Rather than having to locate and gather data, dashboards allow practitioners to focus on understanding and interpreting data and to concentrate their time on expanding value-added improvements.

In making it mandatory that every American have insurance in order to have access to health care, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has increased the number of patients which in turn has inflated administrative tasks, leaving physicians even less time to interact with patients.

Yet, healthcare providers want to best serve their patients. Dashboard analytics offer the means and the efficiency to achieve the goal of superior patient satisfaction by displaying in an easy-to-interpret format how an organization is performing in working towards its goals.

Moreover, the ACA now provides more Americans access to affordable, quality health insurance and at the same time emphasizes wellness and disease prevention. While transitioning to the newly required priorities of value-based improved care and decreasing waste while maximizing operations performance, an interactive dashboard lends valuable insights into quality of care through access to up-to-date data.

Dashboards enable healthcare providers to stay current with patients’ progress by following the historical data. Practitioners can see the breakdown of specific diagnoses and compare patient outcomes locally and nationally. Analytics permit users to assess an overall healthcare perspective and thus provide an understanding of where resources need to be directed to assure improvement.

Static reports furnished by Access and Excel do not offer the insight, substantiated facts, interactivity and visual display options of dashboards. Therefore, clinicians without dashboard analytics lack the context needed to use the data to implement improvements in every phase of practice operations.

According to Jim Malloy, CEO Global Health Management Services (GHMS), “Today’s business intelligence tools are much more sophisticated and easier to utilize than just a few years ago. The investment in dashboard technology to reduce the rising operational costs within a practice and improve patient care can be offset by the return on investment almost immediately.”

Healthcare dashboards that provide reliable, relevant and timely data are easy to comprehend by any person, regardless of the level of technical skills and knowledge. Presented visually in a format that is readily accessible, a dashboard supplies the same quick and perceptive information to everyone within an organization, thereby establishing a universal benchmark for all its members.

Incorporating a system-wide criterion of patient care encourages a team mindset for working together to implement positive changes. With up-to-date data, it is easy for staff to visualize a course of action and achieve its goals. Dashboards allow users to monitor their gains and prevent losses through intervention. As workers are able to note that their efforts are effecting progress, their self-esteem and job satisfaction are enhanced which is a bonus for any practice.

The Number One Concern in Today’s Healthcare: Rising Operational Costs

Jim Malloy of GHMS observes, ”The number one concern in today’s healthcare is rising practice operational costs. The demands placed on a practice today are practically overwhelming and the insurance payers are not increasing reimbursements. Patient financial responsibility is at its highest and expected to continue to expand. The only way to even the score is to use technology as an asset.”

In regard to patient care, analytics encourage informed healthcare and lifestyle decisions based on current data and assure better patient management by customizing care specific to each patient’s historical data results, thereby prioritizing prevention rather than treatment.

Pharmaceutical companies and medical equipment manufacturers benefit from dashboard analytics when determining which drugs are germane to combating specific diseases and preventing epidemics and when developing advanced technological devices.

On a broader scale, healthcare dashboard analytics can reduce medical errors, standardize care and help communities to predict and prepare for large scale infectious disease events.

The goal of establishing an all-inclusive and successful healthcare system can be achieved when accurate and up-to-date connections are created between all healthcare participants, services and provisions. Healthcare dashboard analytics provide the means for developing, maintaining and advancing these necessary contacts and associations.

Jim Malloy is optimistic. “I have a saying: ‘Data drives profit.’ Dashboards are one significant tool in the battle to fight the rising costs of healthcare and to enhance patient care. Answers many times are found within the data sitting right inside a practice’s systems.

“Let’s transform the specter of rising operational costs into an opportunity to increase efficiencies and maximize reimbursements. By utilizing today’s business intelligence tools in addition to practice systems, the industry can shine a bright light into what currently seems a very dark space to patients and practitioners.”